Wayback Wednesday, sponsored by Jamie Lockwood, broker/owner of Sutton Group Muskoka Realty!
This photo, taken between 1857 and 1954, came from the R.A. Hutcheson Estate and was donated to the Huntsville Public Library (and Muskoka Digital Archives) by Janet Fisher.
The Locks Mill was constructed in 1871 by John Fetterly, who sold it to the Cottrill family in 1907. It closed in 1954 when part of the mill foundation collapsed. It was the longest-operating waterpower sawmill in Muskoka. After the mill closed, the Department of Public Works took over the site and turned it into a park.
See more Wayback Wednesday photos HERE.
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The Real Person!
The Real Person!
This is a great photo.
The Cottrill Mill supplied our family with the materials to rebuild one of the oldest cottages on Fairy Lake, in 1930. It may have also supplied the material for the original cottage, which was built in 1905.
Allen Markle says
This photo seems to be between the years 1885, when the white-grilled swing bridge crossed the channel. and when the log cribbed, stone and hammered clay dam was replaced by a concrete structure in 1930. I know that is quite a spread , so I would guess the photo is from the early 1900/10 era. Just a guess but I know it’s the fall.
This mill never ran in cold weather. A circular saw and no ‘hot pond’ meant big logs could freeze to the blade. What trees can be seen are denuded of leaves, and there isn’t a saw-log to be seen. The mill yard is tidy and the lumber stacked neatly. The mill used no steam or boiler and produced no electricity. Once you had used up your logs, once the days were short and the river was starting to freeze, the cutting season was over for the Cottrill Mill.
I believe John Lever Fetterly passed away in 1891, and a series of owners, Robinson, Jacobs, Whiteside/ Bonser owned the mill up to it being sold to Cottrill. It may have been the Cottrill Mill but it was mostly the Locks Mill. Operated by the Cottrills for sure but also by people at the Locks. Time sheets from the day list the names, Heinz, Woods, Carter, Vince, Lovegrove, Farnsworth, Slatter, Markle, Lupton, Snowden, Brown and Buck. All members of local “Locks” families who had spent a lot or a little time feeding the jack-ladder or tailing the saw in that old mill.
If Peter Brown believes Cottrill supplied the lumber for an original cottage, it would have been barged to the site by Taylor Cottrill as captain of the tug ‘Seabird’. In 1930 it could have been the tug Nishka or another contract tug that did the delivering.
The steel bridge was built when the government built the ‘lock’ and was single lane. I can remember my Dad stopping and flashing the car lights to signal oncoming vehicles to cross. My Mother was always curious as to why we had to be the ones to wait. I don’t think I ever heard Dad answer her.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
You will also notice there are no large trees left standing in the picture. And talk about a “green factory”. little to no pollution.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Thanks for the comments Allen. I remember my father telling me that the material was indeed barged to the cottage site at Timber Bay.
Dad also indicated he found what remained of a barge he thought belonged to the Mill many years ago, submerged a foot or two below the waterline in the bay across from the Brunel Road boat launch (beside what was once Andrews Farm, the best place to buy corn)
Dad and I actually salvaged a long board from the partially submerged barge, with the thought of making a mantle piece from it. Again, many years ago.
No idea if the barge is still there.